Fantastic Four: The Golden Age
by MatrixOfWumbo
Summary: In the wake of the Infinity War, a team of entrepreneurs and experts aim to create a human settlement on Mars. But what awaits Reed Richards and his family on the Red Planet will change all their lives forever. Takes place after "Avengers: The Infinity Aftermath."
1. Chapter 1

_"AVENGERS BATTLE ALIENS IN NYC"_

_"Thousands still missing Tuesday as the death toll continues to rise in the wake of what has been confirmed to be an alien invasion of New York City-"_

_"STARK INDUSTRIES LAUNCHES DAMAGE CONTROL INITIATIVE WITH GOVERNMENT."_

_"NYC ENTREPRENEURS FUND CLEANUP EFFORTS."_

_"Doctor Reed Richards has committed a large sum from his vast fortune to reclaiming the area around Grand Central Station following the alien invasion. Richards, renowned for his research into so called 'unstable molecules'-"_

_"NEW ORGANIZATION FOR THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST FORMED IN MANHATTAN."_

_"Local entrepreneurs Reed Richards and Susan Storm held a press conference announcing the launch of the 'Future Foundation'-"_

_"-Intends to gather the greatest minds in the world under one roof to solve mankind's greatest problems."_

_"The world is evolving, and its issues are evolving with it. We can no longer remain apart if we are to solve it. It is my belief that the future begins with a solid foundation. Here at the Baxter Building we will pour that foundation."_

_"RUMOR: RICHARDS AND STORM ON SHORTLIST FOR NOBEL."_

_"HUMANITY 'GRAVELY UNDER-PREPARED,' SAYS TECH MOGUL ESSEX."_

_"BUGLE EXCLUSIVE: WHY STARK IS BLACKLISTED FROM GENIUS CLUB."_

_"THESE 11 MEMBERS OF THE FUTURE FOUNDATION ARE HYDRA PLANTS! NUMBER SEVEN WILL SHOCK YOU."_

_"Susan Storm appeared on stage with the First Lady today at the Global Climate Summit-"_

_"WEDDING OF THE CENTURY? RICHARDS AND STORM TO WED."_

_"The two Future Foundation founders have been reported to be dating for years now, but the couple has been tight lipped until now-"_

_"IRON MAN ABDUCTED? STRANGE CRAFT OVER GREENWICH VILLAGE."_

_"AVENGERS PULL EARTH FROM THE BRINK!"_

_"An entire nation in morning today as millions flock to Washington for the funeral of Captain Steve Rogers-"_

_"-How are we supposed to go on after what happened? We have no defenses that can compete with everything out there. Even the Avengers barely managed it and the UN shut them down years ago!"_

_"SCIENTISTS SHOCKED BY RICHARDS' SPACE BID!"_

_"You look back seven years ago, the search for intelligent life on other planets was the realm of crackpots and pseudoscience. But since then we've not only learned we aren't alone in the universe - we've seen that our technology is far outstripped by alien capabilities."_

_"RICHARDS: FOUNDATION TO GO TO MARS"_

_"NASA WHO? BILLIONAIRE AIMS FOR RED PLANET"_

_"The universe has proven to us to be larger than anyone could have ever imagined. We Earthlings need to expand into this new frontier if we are to keep up. That's why the Future Foundation is going to prepare Mars for the future colonization of humans. Through Unstable Molecules we have cut the time necessary to reach Martian Orbit in half. Before long humankind will have two homes, and that's only the beginning. The Future begins on a solid Foundation!"_

* * *

**|Fantastic Four: The Golden Age|**

* * *

In the vacuum of space, a great silver cylinder cuts through the blackness. The _Beautiful Tomorrow_, the culmination of five years of research and development, billions of dollars in capital, and the passions of hundreds of engineers. Within it dwell the thirty-person crew of the first manned mission to Mars. A collection of botanists, physicists, astronomers, and other would-be pioneers all belonging to the Future Foundation; the society of freethinkers and entrepreneurs curated by the Richards family.

Reed Richards was standing in the engine room observing the massive device powering the ship. The Tomorrow Drive was powered by unstable molecules, which even on a thirty day trip to Mars Reed wouldn't be able to properly explain to most of the people on board. They could be made to alternate between different quantum states, essentially reducing the amount of space in front of the ship and then expanding it behind the ship, propelling them forward at previously unknown speeds. Reed suspected they were a distant cousin of the Pym Particle, but the venerable physicist remained adamant about keeping his miraculous technology secret even after it helped save the universe.

Unstable Molecules had rocketed Reed into the public consciousness, and were now rocketing the foundation he built into the stars.

"Shouldn't you be up top with the flight crew popping champagne or something?" The voice came from Johnny Storm, Reed's brother in law and the youngest member of the crew.

"Hello Johnny. We're not on Mars yet," Reed pulled a cylinder from the fuel bay. "Until then, I'm still working."

"The Drive? It works fine. Almost too fine. Engineering hardly ever needs to come down here, I think they're a little jealous."

"Which is why the Engine Room is a great place for… quiet contemplation."

"Alright, I can take a hint. I'm just grabbing one of my toolkits and I'll be out of your hair."

"Oh no, I don't mean that," Reed stopped him. "Here, take a look at this."

He produced a square of fabric from his pocket, then opened the capsule and poured a few drops of the peculiar teal substance onto it. The two men watched as it pooled on the cloth, then disappeared.

"So, uh, what am I looking at?"

"Potentially? Anything. I've been working on this the whole trip. Pliability, weatherproofing, insulation from a dozen types of radiation - thermal, nuclear, maybe even visible light. All as thin and lightweight as a pair of jeans."

"The next generation of spacesuits," Johnny whistled. "Would have been nice for this trip."

"It wouldn't require much modification," Reed nodded. "Though we hardly have the resources to outfit the whole crew. There's also the means of regulating it. I didn't call them 'Unstable' for grabbing headlines."

"Huh. The mind of Reed Richards never fails to entertain. Don't stay at your chemistry set too long though. My sister will be looking for you."

Johnny grabbed a bag and climbed back up to the main deck.

Johnny - along with Reed's schoolmate Benjamin Grimm - weren't scientists, but they _were_ among the most essential members of the _Tomorrow's _crew. Johnny was in charge of vehicle maintenance on the many rovers and shuttles the Foundation intended to use to explore Mars. Johnny only understood Reed's designs in broad strokes but the two worked together well. He had knack with the crafts' proprietary workings. Ben was a skilled pilot, having flown recovery missions for NASA and the army in the past several years. He presided over the many scientists charting their course through space as Ship's Captain…

* * *

"Alright eggheads, we're in the home stretch. What's the latest?"

"Cosmic ray concentration is a bit higher than normal," one of the scientists reported. "Shouldn't be anything the shields can't handle."

"That about as confident an answer as you can muster?"

"Sir?"

"Forget it." Ben was known for his rough personality, but he was still rather popular the deck crew. He was much more outgoing than the average mathematician, and he brought a certain energy that made the long trip a little more bearable.

"Prepare to take us down to normal thrust," Ben announced. "Mars, here we come."

* * *

"It's all dehydrated anyway, I don't see what the big deal is."

Tamara Devoux leaned over the rack of food packets she was perusing and raised her eyebrows at the botanist.

"Big deal? This is our first meal in Martian orbit! It should be special. I only wish your crops were ready, you should see what I can whip up with real food."

Tamara was brought on as the nutritional officer and rations quartermaster on the ship. But the classically trained chef often couldn't help resorting to type when it came to meals in space.

The botanist grumbled as he looked at his hydroponics lab. "One month might be revolutionary for traveling to Mars, but it isn't anywhere near long enough for fruits and vegetables to grow. At the rate the Richards are moving us, we might not be eating this stuff til the return trip."

"Well, until then I guess we'll just have to rely on freeze-dried bags of…" she ran her finger across a row. "Ooh! Apple pie. This will do."

* * *

The various modules of the _Beautiful Tomorrow_ rotated around a central column, the centrifugal motion maintaining normal gravity inside. Only the main column, from which the other rooms could be accessed, was a weightless environment. That was where Sue found Reed.

"There you are!"

"Hello dear," Reed smiled. "I was just talking to Johnny, and figured I should come up before the final approach."

She gave him a quick kiss. "Today's the big day. Can you really believe we'll be on Mars soon?"

"Getting here was the easy part," Reed chuckled. "I had a very similar conversation with Johnny."

"We're all pretty anxious to get down there. We've done all this planning, now it's time to put it to work. I'm certain we've prepared for anything."

"We have a veritable army of experts in their fields up here," Reed agreed. "But if we've learned anything in the last decade, it's that there's a lot we haven't seen yet."

As if to answer him, Ben's voice came over the comms._ "Hey uh, Reed? We're coming up on the Red Planet. Only it ain't looking so red."_

"What does that mean?" Sue frowned.

_"Probably nothing good, Susie,"_ Ben responded. _"You're gonna want to see this."_


	2. Chapter 2

Stretching before the Future Foundation's ship was the planet Mars, Earth's closest relative in the Solar System. It was one of the most well-studied planets for this reason, with over a dozen scientific probes sent to capture images of its gargantuan canyons and arid wastes.

No rover or satellite had ever indicated that there were forests, though.

"Incredible," Reed muttered as he gazed out from the bridge. "No doubt about it, that's organic plant life growing on the surface of Mars. This defies all recorded data."

"Not to mention pictures," Johnny entered the bridge carrying a number of rolls of paper. He spread one out on Ben's control console. "This satellite image was taken a few weeks ago. It's a desert, same as it always was."

Sue took another look at the great expanse of trees down below. "Which means that patch of green grew there in less than a month," she mused. "But that's impossible."

"Only highly improbable," Reed corrected her. "The last several years have greatly reduced the number of things we can consider impossible."

"But then where is the oxygen coming from? The water? The rate of growth is beyond anything physically observed."

"We'll be getting a closer look before long," Ben interjected. "Orbit is stabilizing. I'll get on the horn and assemble the eggheads."

* * *

One of the plant biologists on the ship tapped on the storeroom door.

"Officer Devoux?"

"Yes, doctor?" the woman had found herself unable to remove herself from the window. It was really true. Trees on Mars!

"Botany Team requested you in the mission prep room. Now that the agricultural research plans have changed they'll need a few more hands on deck."

Tamara blinked. "They want me down on the surface with them? Already?"

"They need you asap."

"Well then I'd better pack!"

* * *

"Are you sure I shouldn't stay up here?" Ben asked as he, Reed, and Johnny suited up.

"Afraid that there's Martian Bears in the Martian Woods?" Johnny grinned.

"It's not me I'm worried about. I can handle myself, haircut. It's the ship. What if something goes wrong down there and they need to abort the mission?"

"The first mate and flight crew are read into the flight protocol," Reed put his arm on the man's broad shoulders. "If they don't hear from one of the project leaders in 72 hours then procedure is to take the remaining crew back to Earth and scrub the mission. We've prepared for any ill occurrence."

* * *

_"Kirby 2, come in."_

"Operator, this is Kirby 2, over."

Tamara Devoux watched the shuttle operator intently. She, the two Medical Officers Cadmon and Cho, and the three biologists Beaker, Garrison, and Frank were onboard the second of the two shuttles the Away Team was taking down to Mars. First Medical Officer Helen Cho was presiding over the control of the shuttle, what little wasn't done by computers.

"Kirby 1, this is Kirby 2," Cho spoke into the microphone after she was finished. "Preflight checklist is green, ready to depart."

_"Thank you Helen,"_ Doctor Richards' voice came back through the ship. "The coordinates are on your screen, automatic systems will deliver both shuttles to the edge of the Martian Jungle in about 10 minutes."

After all personnel had cleared and the alarm had sounded, the hangar depressurized and the shuttles undocked from the _Beautiful Tomorrow._

"The landing was always my least favorite part of flying," Garrison muttered. "I wonder how much worse it is going through an atmosphere."

"Probably a lot worse Sean," Cho said flatly. "But your harness will keep you safe. Just keep your head clear, like in training."

"Maybe we can talk about something to keep our minds off of it," Tamara offered as the ship began to rumble.

"An excellent suggestion Officer Devoux," Doctor Cadmon smiled. "Who would like to go first?"

"Well, now that we have her in a sealed metal tube," Doctor Beaker raised an eyebrow, "maybe Doctor Cho can regale us with a tale about the Avengers."

Helen looked down, blushing lightly. "There's not much to it. I provided medical services to the Avengers, and then I was attacked by a robot, and now I'm… retired from that sort of work. I have my family to take care of, and my research to worry about."

Doctor Cho was something of a celebrity in the foundation for her former work with the Avengers. She didn't talk about it much, and preferred to focus on her work. In fact, this mission to Mars was the first major Foundation event she had attended in several years.

"How is your son doing?" Tamara asked.

Helen turned to look at her. "Oh my, officer Devoux, I'm sorry if I-"

"What's there to be sorry about?" Tamara cut her off. "I haven't seen the little guy since he was a baby."

"Well, he's getting bigger, that's for sure. And I can already tell he's going to be a clever one."

The ship rumbled again, harder this time.

"Oh my," Doctor Frank clutched his harness. "Let's keep going, shall we?"

* * *

"Alright ladies and germs," Ben announced. "That was the worst of it. We'll be through the atmosphere in no time."

"The first thing to do is air quality testing," Sue was discussing with the two geology officers, Harvey Elder and Farida Hussain. "There's a very real possibility that the Martian Atmosphere now contains oxygen now that there are trees there, and if that's the case creating breathable air will become much easier."

"There's definitely something up here," Elder nodded out the window. "Kirby 2's heat shields are flaring up. Either it's oxygen, or we're all in trouble."

Johnny Storm was also looking out a window, at the vast expanse of green beneath them. They were headed for the edge of the vegetation, but beyond it stretched plants farther than the eye could see, even as high up as they were. It was incredible. Here and there bald peaks rose out of the treeline, covered in the typical muted orange Mars was supposed to be almost exclusively composed of. And on one of the?

"Reed," Johnny pointed down below to a particular mountain on the horizon. "That peak, does it look… artificial?"

Reed squinted as he looked out the window. There looked to be _something_ there, but he couldn't see past the glare the sun was casting on it. A glare that seemed to be growing…

A glare that punched a hole in the side of their shuttle.

"Mayday, mayday," Ben's voice rose but he attempted to maintain a level head. The others could barely hear him over the roar of the cabin depressurizing. "Everyone grab onto something, I'm gonna try to bring her down gentle."

Helmets lowered onto the crew members as they lost the atmosphere in their ship. Johnny watched wide eyes as the windshear began tearing the ship in two. Through the cream colored sky he saw Shuttle 2 take a second projectile.

Ben punched a few buttons and ejected the crew from the ship. Parachutes dropped from the backs of the seats and air rushed into the suits. Then Johnny blacked out.

* * *

Reed pulled himself from the wreck.

"Sue!" He called hoarsely for his wife.

A figure stepped towards him through the smoke. "Sue?" He shouted.

But the figure that stepped out was not any member of the crew.

It was tall, and it walked upright. Its skin was the approximate color and - from Reed's viewpoint, texture - of clay. Its head came to a point in the back, and two entirely dark and featureless eyes shining with curiosity were set within it. Between the eyes was a bulbous nose, and a number of teeth jutted at random angles from what evidently constituted a mouth below. It wore a suit of stone-like armor that jutted far beyond his chest, and small metal adornments beyond that.

When it saw the crew strewn about the clearing, it turned and gave a slight twitch. More creatures of a similar nature emerged from the trees, carrying thick woven ropes that glowed in a number of blues and greens. Lumbering through the undergrowth as if being lead along on these chains were what Reed would best describe as huge sea anemones with four mammalian feet on the ends of stubby legs. Like cattle they lumbered towards the unmoving humans, and the last thing Reed Richards saw as the horror of the encounter and the pain of the crash overtook him was his crew being drawn onto the great creatures' wriggling backs by long tendrils.

* * *

The shuttle crew awoke to beams of cool Martian sunlight filtering through the beds of tendrils they were bound within. With bleary eyes they found themselves being lifted up and out of the creatures and onto a great flat platform carved out of the top of a mountain. The first to regain consciousness heard a voice, loud and boisterous.

_"Something new? Oh, I love new things. Sister, come and see what the Caretakers have gathered!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Farida Hussain held civil engineering lectures twice a week at Thomas Jefferson University before she was invited to train for the Reed Richard's mission to Mars. She had been excited by the notion that her membership to the Foundation would be more than just an eye catcher on her resume.

Things weren't going to plan.

Sue was among the first to wake up; she quickly tried to make sense of the situation. At this point the existence of aliens didn't shake her much. But she had been a safe distance from New York the day the Chitauri invaded. Seeing one up close was another matter entirely.

"Reed!" She called, catching sight of her husband. "Is everyone alright?"

"We're all here," Doctor Hussein managed. She was being held next to Sue. "But they seem to have sedated us for the trip."

"But a trip to where?"

The six of them were being held upright in a semicircle by the bizarre creatures. The humanoids all kneeled between them in the same arc, facing the approaching figures.

She was ostensibly human, save for her slate grey skin. Her face was framed in wavy black hair. She wore a lacey black coat over black and grey tights, completing her overall monochrome ensemble.

He stood about two heads taller, a powerfully built man whose entire body was metallic gold. There was no hair, and most of the body had a mirror like finish, as if worn smooth. Its only feature was a black stripe across the chest that Farida _thought_ looked like the Greek letter Omega, but found the thought too distressing to contemplate what the meaning behind that might be. His face, on the other hand, was full of life. His eyes were solid green and shone like emeralds, and the sides were creased from frequent mirth. In the center of his forehead was a conspicuous third eyelid. He had an angular nose but no ears; the sides of his face instead ended in two sweeping horns like a steer. The horn on his left side was considerably shorter, but still came to a point as though it had grown that way naturally.

They both descended a roughly hewn staircase in the hilltop. The summit had been carved into a plateau, presumably by the current occupants. At their every step, a tuft of pink feathery grass, like the antennae of a moth, cropped up behind them.

The golden man smiled warmly and outstretched his arms.

"Welcome, Terrans who have traveled far, to the Gardens of Mars!"

There was a moment of silence, perhaps more terse for one side than the other, before Reed spoke up.

"Hello. I'm glad we can understand each others' languages. We are scientists, we do not mean you any harm."

He looked to the female, who smirked at him, and then he broke into boisterous laughter.

"Harm? I should think not! You have no need to fear harming ones such as we."

"I think you mistake my meaning," Reed said laboredly. "We have no weapons, or warriors. Why do we need to be restrained?"

"Ah. I see. I believe you mistake my meaning as well. You think yourselves prisoners, but those tethers are for your protection, not ours. We no doubt intimidate you, but we wished to introduce ourselves before you could recoil in fear. I am Ex Nihilo, and this is my sister Abyss. We have come to this fallow red desert bearing the Ancient Gift - life!"

"So you're the guys who turned Mars into Central Park," Ben had now woken up. "You seem like you like to talk, what's the story there?"

"We Gardeners are come to right a great cosmic wrong, to repair Almighty Universe," Nihilo grinned.

Abyss gestured to her brother. "Eons ago, the Ex Nihili seeded countless worlds on the edge of what was known with new life. And - for a while - there was equilibrium. But then the aberration came, and the Universe had need of us once more. A massive extinction, a decimation of life. So many dead required drastic action. The system must be repaired."

"We are particularly honored to have awakened in this sector, where the aberration first began." Nihilo finished. "We've built all this so far, an Eden on Mars. Though perhaps you might think of it as a studio, where I develop my art. I am, after all, rather young for my species."

Sue frowned. "A decimation of life… you mean Thanos?"

"An acerbic name that taints the very air in which it is spoken," Nihilo spat.

"But Thanos is dead!" Doctor Elder called out. "The Avengers killed him! They reversed the Decimation!"

"False," came a third voice. A robot taller than Abyss but shorter than Ex Nihilo tromped down the stairs. "The system is broken. Primary Directive: repair the system."

Nihilo frowned. "Oh yes, this is Aleph, our guardian. He's unfortunately the cause of your ill-fated entry to the Garden."

"The program must be undisturbed."

"But it's true! Thanos is gone," Johnny shouted. "And at any rate, what's that got to do with us?"

A black tendril of smoke emerged from Abyss' arm and snaked toward Johnny. He felt it tap lightly on his head.

"I can tell you wouldn't lie about such a thing," Abyss pondered. "But Aleph is correct. We have been given a direct missive by the cosmos herself to re-establish life in the universe."

"And as for you purpose here..." Nihilo gestured up the stairs. They all felt their bodies go numb, and they were lowered to the ground. The feathery grass flashed with color, then began waving back and forth, forming a peculiar conveyer belt.

"All who visit the garden shall receive a gift. For I am Ex Nihilo; I make _something_ from _nothing_. I can't wait to see what I'll make from you."

Aleph remained where he stood. A few plates of metal shifted on the side of his face.

"Observation: Two craft were detected. More survivors likely." He turned to the Caretakers. "Locate. The program must be undisturbed."

* * *

"Mark, I found her."

Doctor Cadmon rushed over to where Helen stood. They were both at the edge of the long scar Kirby 2 had carved into the strange alien forest. There, half burried in rich dark mud and tree limbs, was Tamara Devoux.

"My god. Is she alive?"

"I can't tell. I think so. But she's not moving."

"Let's get her to the others."

Together they moved her out of the pile and over to the triage center they had set up alongside what was left of the ship. Garrison had been seriously injured as well, but the others only required moderate patching. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. But the situation was still rather desperate. They were stuck on a foreign planet in the middle of a sea of identified life, with no way of contacting the _Beautiful Tomorrow._ They could, however, breath the air. Mark's helmet had shattered in the crash, but suffered no respiratory failure. Shedding their EVA suits had greatly helped with medical attention.

"Okay, I think we've got Tamara under control," Cadmon said wiping his brow. "But all six of us could a more proper hospital than this."

"I feel fine, myself," Dcotor Frank rotated his bruised shoulder. "Anyway, I shouldn't let a bad situation get in the way of a little looksie. This planet is an old biologist's dream."

"You can't honestly still be thinking of the research mission," Beaker said disbelievingly.

"I'm always thinking about research," Frank said sharply. "And there's no sense hanging around here for too long. Nowhere to hide when whatever kind of predators they have out here show up."

"You don't think they have… actual 'Predator' predators, right?" Harold looked around nervously. Doctor Cadmon stood.

"Enough of that. I will accompany the good doctor. We'll be careful to [I]watch what we touch[I]," he emphasized looking at Emil. "Helen, you and Doctor Beaker try and find the radio, see if there's enough to repair it and tell the_ Tomorrow_ not to leave us behind."

Helen thought about what Emil had said about staying out in the open. "We're going to move the wounded back beyond the treeline there. Then we'll come back and scavenge for the rest."

* * *

Tamara Devoux was pretty sure she was dead. She was in a black void, dotted here and there by the far away light of stars. She had been walking for some time, but she had no sense of how long had passed or how far she had gotten. And then she heard the voice.

_**Traveler From Earth**_

"Hello?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Am I dead?"

The voice seemed to come from everywhere around Tamara, but it had no visible source.

_**You Live Yet**_

_**The Universe Has Need Of You**_

Tamara took a deep breath. "Oh, well, that's just great."

_**This Response Is**_

_**Unexpected**_

"Well sorry, but the universe seems to hate me. ...This definitely feels like I'm dead."

The voice did not respond. She continued through the dark for a time.

* * *

Reed and the other five were carried up the stairs to the top of the plateau, which was in fact the rim of a shallow valley. At the center was a tremendous bulb, perhaps 200 feet in diameter. It trembled in time with a high, breathy whistling sound that pulsed through the depression. Thick spiral-woven roots punched through the rock and disappeared below the hilltop. At the widest part of the rim was a broad, shallow pool that had a series of what looked like computer readouts flashing on its surface.

At this point they were split up; Reed, Sue, and Farida were taken by Ex Nihilo to one side of the pool. Ben, Johnny, and Harvey were followed by Abyss to the other. They dragged the limp researchers up and onto a wall of blue pods. The pods opened readily at the appearance of the humans.

"Oh, these creatures are delightfully blank canvases," Nihilo steepled his hands as he looked over the wriggling forms of Reed and company. "Abyss, what does the data say?"

"Exactly what you'd expect," she said floating upside down over the pool. "Apes with tools. Threat Level: Low to None. A nuisance species at best."

"They've almost gotten space travel figured out as well," Nihilo laughed. "They'd make an interesting site alongside a Kree or a Shi'ar."

"Kree, now there's a boring genome." She floated up to Johnny. "Be glad you aren't bound by the rigors of _their_ mating process, Mr… Storm, was it?"

"That's right. Though if that's what you're after, you might want to work on your bedside manner. Then again, you have tied me to a wall…"

She put a finger to his lips. "Sorry, but I'm only interested in more… _interesting_ organisms. Nothing we can't fix, though."

"So just what do you intend to do to us?" Ben was losing his patience. "'Fix us?' Make us more 'interesting?' You keep talking but you haven't made sense since we got here."

"As I said, all who come here receive a gift," Ex Nihilo answered him. "What that gift will be, even I can't say. But this will be a lovely test run for the Program."

"You're going to… alter our genes." Reed breathed.

"I'm going to improve you - all of you. Make you stronger, until life once again flourishes in this part of the divine tapestry of the universe."

"Hey pal, my genes are off limits!" Ben shouted.

"We are Gardeners, descended from those who trod the virginal cosmos and imbued it with life. Nothing is beyond our reach."

And before anyone could say anything else, Reed was pulled into his pod. Through the translucent membrane he could see the powerful silhouette of Ex Nihilo watching intently.

He felt his whole body tingle, and he struggled to get a grip on the walls of the pod. It was becoming harder to move his body with every passing moment…

Farida Hussein was conscious of a bright white liquid, like flowing light, filling up around them all. Something seemed familiar about this to her, but she certainly hadn't been in this situation before...

The two Gardeners watched the cocoons writhe as the six Foundation explorers moved inside.

"There are actually a number of fascinating vacant sequences in here," Abyss said looking at the pool. "They're using a considerably small portion of their genetic content."

"Room to grow. How very efficient. How is the treatment taking to them?"

"Well. Very well, in fact."

Sue felt herself grow weaker, as though she was losing her grip on the world. She blinked, and then blinked again, because for a moment she had lost sight of her hand stretched before her…

Abyss turned around at the sound of a sizzle coming from Johnny's pod. The siblings watched, unsure, as drops of the white luminous fluid dripped from the seam in the pod and evaporated as they hit the cool ground of the crater.

Johnny's body temperature had been increasing rapidly - he felt simultaneously feverous and electrified as the heat permeated through him. He looked down at himself, realizing he was starting to smoke...

Harvey Elder's vision was rapidly fading, but above the high, airy whistle pulsing through the pod he could hear Ben Grimm shouting in agony. He could hear - and smell - a number of horrifying things as the breathy sound grew louder and higher, the intervals between each pulse growing ever shorter...

Reed finally found purchase on the opening of the pod, but his bones started to ache. And then he couldn't feel them at all. His outstretched arm was beginning to sag under its own weight, Even his great mind was suddenly flooded with panic at the events unfolding. And all around him he could hear the muffled protests of his colleagues and family.

Sue could see a bright orange flash through the membrane, and heard Ex Nihilo and Abyss begin to shout at each other.

"Disengage! Disengage! They're changing too fast!"

"No, I believe this is the way their species does change. Remarkable. But alarming. I think they're done, brother."

Reed's suit braced his rapidly softening body in an upright position. Through the cracked visor he saw a horrifying sight. The burning form of Johnny, entirely wreathed in orange flame, staggered from his pod. He wheeled around wildly, and then made a break for the Gardeners' liquid computer.

Despite Abyss' pleas against it, Johnny plunged himself into the pool, causing a great burst of steam to overtake the rim of the crater.

Reed quickly lost sight of the others, but he could see vague shapes moving in the cloud. A large mass barrelled in the direction of the Gardeners and the pool, and he saw the telltale shape of Ex Nihilo duck out of the way of the chaotic scene. Then a bright purple flash knocked him off the edge and sent his limp form tumbling down through the deep jungle below…

* * *

They were all gone. _Well, not all,_ Abyss thought as she looked at the peculiar shell that had overtaken Farida Hussein's body within the pod. Somehow, in all the confusion, the other five had escaped down the slope of the hill and into the trees beyond.

"I'm concerned with the effects our gifts may have had on their mental state."

"The program must be undisturbed." Aleph responded flatly.

"Indeed," Nihilo nodded. "They may not be in top emotional condition right now. They're upset and we don't want them to do anything rash."

His sister looked at him, then at the robot. This could only go one way if they sent Aleph.

"I will find them, brother," Abyss' body turned into a dark cloud and glided over the rim of their lab. "They will learn the wonders of their gift in time. Or it will kill them."

"I should like the former," Nihilo called after her. "They seem nice. For apes with tools."

* * *

"Tell me you have something."

The First Mate paced around the deck of the _Beautiful Tomorrow._ It had been almost a full day since they lost radio contact with the shuttles.

"A few irregular thermal readings, but not anything to write home about," one of the flight crew members replied."

"I don't like this."

"Protocol still gives them 52 hours to rendezvous before we scrap the mission."

"Yeah, but a lot can go wrong in two days."

"A lot can go right as well," a female officer shrugged.

He sighed. "True. We have our order. Keep a tab on those thermals, and leave all the channels open."

He looked out the window and muttered to himself. "You guys better still be alive down there."

* * *

"What a curious flower," Cadmon mused as he and Doctor Frank moved through the underbrush.

"Bah," Frank brushed aside a vine. "If you wanted to stare at weeds all day you should have brought Mr. Garrison or Dr. Beaker."

"Well, if that isn't to your taste," Cadmon said dryly, "There are also some tracks down here."

"Oh?" the older man leaned down. "Magnificent! It looks feline. Or maybe a… mongoose. But there are too many toes for either of those. I wouldn't expect much evolutionary sense up here anyway."

A rustling sound in the bushes drew his attention. "Maybe that's it there."

"Emil, don't wander off too far."

He craned his neck to find where the scientist had run off to. Then he heard a shout.

_"Gah!"_

"Emil?"

He jogged off after his comrade, not noticing the strange flowers growing into a dense thicket as he went...

* * *

_**I Do Not**_

_**Understand**_

Tamara stopped and turned around, then felt stupid for trying find the speaker. Everything was black forever.

"What? Wait, how long have you been following me?"

_**Time**_

_**Time Is Not**_

_**A Concern To Us**_

_**But Your Response**_

_**The Universe**_

_**Capable Of Hate**_

_**No**_

_**The Beings Within**_

_**Yes**_

_**Boundless**_

_**Unfortunately**_

_**But Not The Universe**_

"Look, I didn't mean it literally. I'm sure it's not personal. It just feels like it most of the time. This is just the latest in a long string of 'screw yous' to yours truly. It's like my life is cursed. And now I'm definitely dead in a weird forrest on Mars. I should have known, even leaving the planet I couldn't escape it. I don't know what I did to deserve this."

Tamara's body suddenly became translucent, and in it she could see a number of familiar memories flash across her skin. Her third birthday party. Her graduation from culinary school. Her wedding. Her husband. A loud horn. A small face…

"What the hell is this?" She grimaced.

_**What You Do Is**_

_**An Extension Of**_

_**Who You Are**_

_**I Wished To Know**_

_**Who You Are**_

"And who are you exactly? What do you do?"

She felt the blackness pull back, and saw stars and whole galaxies whiz past in an instant. The void kept retreating, getting physically farther away, until it formed the shape of a person.

_**I Am**_

_**Eternity**_

_**What I Do**_

_**What I Am**_

_**Is Everything**_


	5. Chapter 5

_Note: Special thanks to MirandaStonelight for pointing out that the wrong chapter (or rather, a chapter from the wrong story) was uploaded last week. It should be in order now. Make sure you didn't miss it!_

* * *

_"Emil?"_

"I'm down here!" The older man shouted hoarsely.

Emil Frank was the son of French immigrants. He studied biology in Quebec before beginning a lengthy career in research abroad. When he joined the Future Foundation's voyage everyone assumed he would twiddle his thumbs waiting for the geology team to find a microbe trapped in ice, or help the botanists set up their farms. This alien forest was teeming with animal life, however. He could spend days cataloging in just a small part of it. But he had let his excitement get the best of his advancing age and tripped down a ravine following some footprints.

A sound caught his attention. Advancing into the ravine were a number of large weasel-like creatures. At the back of this "pack" was a man with a pointed head and glossy black eyes.

"Um, Hello," Frank offered. If the stranger understood him it didn't acknowledge him. Instead the creatures only advanced further, surrounding but not attacking the doctor. They growled, bidding him to continue on in a direction deeper into the jungle.

The Caretaker seemed satisfied. Of the ones currently conscious, only three more indigenous lifeforms unaccounted for. Aleph would be pleased. They just needed to find them...

* * *

Johnny was staring at himself in a pool of water. His clothes were black with char. From him. He was _on fire_, scarcely a half hour ago. From head to toe. But neither his head nor his toes were burned. How was that possible?

His memory was fuzzy. He remembered being hot, then blazing, and then the fire all over him burst his pod open. He ran to the pool to douse himself, and then… what had happened? Something - someone? - had grabbed him and they fled down the hillside into the trees.

He had to find the others, they had to figure out a way off this planet.

Johnny heard a heavy crunch of vegetation in the distance, and saw a large shape move between two trees. He leaned around the side to find… something… lying in a heap further down.

"Hello?"

"Go away."

Johnny's eyes widened, recognizing the voice. "Ben?"

"Go _away_, Johnny."

"Ben? Is... is that really you?"

"I said get outta here, kid. Ya bother me."

Ben had always been a broad man. But the person now slouched against a tree with his back to Johnny was truly enormous. He sat as tall as Johnny stood, and his arms were wider around than Johnny's waste. His body was covered in rocks, orange like clay in a riverbed.

"Ben…"

He stood up and closed the distance between them in one large step. His wide torso completely enveloped Johnny in its shadow. His familiar eyes peered out from a deep crag between his nose and brow.

"Look at me, Storm," he rumbled. "Look what they _did_ to me. Do I look like I want to talk to you?"

"No," Johnny said quietly. "But maybe _I_ need to talk to you. Maybe I'm selfish like that. I don't know what the hell just happened to us, but I do know that I'm scared."

He gestured to the singed remains of his suit hanging around his body. "Look at my EVA. That came from _inside_ me. I was on fire and it didn't even hurt."

"But when you stop being on fire, you still look like a person. Not like some kinda… some thing."

"I can only imagine," Johnny said.

"Yeah. You can imagine, I have to actually deal with it."

"If we find Reed, we can all deal with it together," Johnny put an arm on Ben's large shoulder and smiled cheerfully. Ben was usually grumpy. At least now he was safe. "Thanks for saving me, by the way."

Ben raised his pronounced brow. "You remember that?"

"Of course I do! Well, I didn't before, but I do now."

"Lousy kid…" Ben muttered. "You _were_ pretty out of it. I grabbed you and Harvey and made a break for it while your meltdown had the aliens distracted. Now that I think of it, where is Harvey?"

As he spoke, a small tremor rumbled beneath their feet.

"Oh boy, what now?"

_"Who goes there, my brothers? A friend? A foe?"_

Up through the ground tunneled a squalid man. A thick layer of hide had grown over his hands and he now squinted up at Johnny and Ben from his hole.

Ben's eyes widened. "Doc? What the Hell happened to you?"

Doctor Elder flinched and dropped a little further into the burrow. _"Foes! Foes! Rise, my brothers!"_

The earth shook again and a host of bizarre creatures emerged from burrows of their own.

"We really can't catch a break today, can we?" Johnny scratched his head.

* * *

Reed once again found himself waking up in the dirt. His body seemed to have put itself back together. As he regained his senses, he realized that he was separated from everyone.

"Sue? Johnny? Farida? Anyone?"

He shouted until he began to lose his voice. But not too far away, Sue was looking for him as well…

"Reed? Ben?"

Sue didn't know what was happening. She seemed to have become invisible, and she couldn't tell if anyone would be able to hear ehr like this. They'd never find her if they couldn't see or hear her.

"Lost, dear?"

Sue turned to see the smokey from of Abyss floating overhead. She immediately backpedaled away from the being.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you, Susan Storm."

"Can you… see me?"

"I cannot. But I've been following the sounds of your cries for a short while now, and can tell where you are. I can tell you weren't sure of that. I hope that helps you a little."

"What happened to my body?"

"Your cells appear to have gained the ability to filter all visible light."

"A perfect camouflage," Sue mused. "But that's not what I need right now."

"Why are you doing this to us? What did we ever do to you? You said it yourself, we've never left our solar system before. We don't know you, we didn't come here to hurt you, so why are you attacking us? Mutating us? Cursing us with these powers?"

"The Ex Nihili create. They never destroy. In this way they exist as an opposite force to the Alephs. What you see as curses my brother considers boons. He knows not who will receive what boon, but he does know that the whole universe must receive it eventually. The system is broken, it must be repaired."

Sue shifted forward a little. "So if one creates, and the other destroys, where does that leave you?"

"I don't see things nearly so black and white. Abysses served as moderators in the eternal debate between life and death. Sometimes we were all that stood between a world and annihilation. But that was before the Program. Now we all must stand together on the side of life. The system must be repaired."

"That all makes sense, after a fashion. But it doesn't explain why you're messing around with the people already here. Humans can't control their bodies on the cellular level."

Abyss shook her head. "At first I would have agreed. We thought you were simple creatures. You likely did too. But there is much potential for growth within them. Your body is already built to handle this kind of power. It's telling you what to do. All you need to do is - listen."

_"Sue? Honey, where are you?"_

Sue lit up at the sound of her husband's voice. She turned around and Abyss was gone.

"Reed! Reed I'm over here!"

He followed the sound of her voice into a clearing, but couldn't find any travel of her.

"Where are you honey, I can't see you!"

"I… I can't see myself, either. Reed, I'm scared."

Reed had reached the clearing where Sue sat, and listened for where she might be. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm here."

"Sue, thank goodness. When I was knocked unconscious, my body reset itself somehow. Even now, I can feel myself starting to sag in places, but I think my concentration helped keep it at bay. Try to focus on me, not on the changes to your body."

Sue closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. In her mind's eye she thought about Reed. About her family. She tried to imagine herself back on Earth, managing the daily operations at the Baxter Building.

When she opened her eyes, she was visible again! She let out a breath and hugged Reed.

Reed hugged her back. "I think we had better rest. Johnny and Ben and the others will be worried, but it's getting dark and I don't think we can do much more today."

"I can make a fire," Sue offered.

"What about wildlife?"

"I saw Abyss earlier. I think she's keeping them at bay. Though their methods are… questionable, the Gardeners want to keep their experiments - us - safe."

* * *

Before long the fire was going, and the two sat together.

"What's this?" Reed felt a lump in her suit as he held her and retrieved a broken vial from her pocket.

"Oh, that's right. It _was_ one of the unstable molecule samples you took on the ship yesterday. You left it out during the permission brief, so I grabbed it. You're always losing things, I figured it would be a nice surprise to have it when you needed. It must have broken in one of our many ordeals today."

"Honey, that's, that's the key!"

"Reed?"

"The molecules interacted with the changes they made to your body, turning the suit invisible with the rest of you! Let's see, if I…"

He fished another vial out of his pocket. "Yes, this one is still intact. And if I do this…"

He opened it and poured the contents onto his arm. Then, as Sue watched, he stretched his arm towards her - sleeve and all.

Sue looked at her husband. "We need to find the others. There's no telling how much this will help them. Did you see Johnny?"

"I did. I was afraid then, but now I think he might be okay. His new "ability" is likely the same as ours."

They stared at the fire for a while. After a time, Reed spoke up again.

"When we were in those pods, did you hear the whistling?"

"Yes…" She responded, not sure what he was getting at.

"I heard the same sound before we were mutated. From that giant plant in the crater."

"Do you think that's the source?"

"No… I think that's a delivery device for a larger dose "

Sue's face paled. "They want to repair a 'system.' They talk about it like a computer system, but what they describe is more like an _ecosystem._"

"Or something larger," Reed went on. "A whole system of ecosystems, repeating and interfacing across the universe. And among them is Earth."

"If they're still operating under the assumption that the Decimation hasn't been reverted, they're going to do what they did to us - to the entire planet. Only the rest of humanity still lives there."

Reed nodded. "Which will spell untold chaos for the planet."

* * *

Doctor Cadmon no longer appreciated the beauty of the flowers, which now certainly had him boxed into a thick bramble.

"What is the meaning of this?" He shouted, his ears burning from the embarrassment of shouting at plants. Thoughts of finding Emil had long since left his mind. He had to find his way back to Helen and the others, and fast.

The earth began to rumble beneath him. As he took a step back, he saw why. A tremendous vine was snaking its way through the jungle, knocking trees to the side in its wake. The flowers all began opening as the vine passed, and more took root from the sides of it as it went. Every bulb opened with a puff of golden spores, until the air became dangerously clogged with them. Cadmon coughed and wheezed, and everywhere the spores touched he felt his skin tingle. At last he saw an opening away from the mammoth crawling vine, and hurried doubling over from the pollen out and into the night. Behind him the root marched onwards, a low breathy whistle meeting its every inching move.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: These last two chapters proved extremely difficult to write, so I hope everyone will excuse the lateness. The last two chapters will be out before the end of August, though. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

_Harvey Elder was going to die on Mars._

_He watched his friends die horrible deaths on that plateau, and now he too could feel himself fading away. His blood pumping in his veins, his vision blurring almost to nothing. But then he found salvation. His new brothers…_

"They look like star-nosed moles," Ben said of the creatures now gathering around Harvey. "Real nasty ones."

"Since when are you a brainiac Ben?"

"I don't need a PhD to watch the discovery channel, ya grease monkey."

He turned to the doctor. "Hey! Harvey! What's gotten into you? We need to stick together."

Harvey reeled back and spun around. "Back! Foul Apparition! I know not how you know _me_, but I know _you_ will never stop all of _us!_"

"Harvey we're your friends!" Johnny called to him. "You need to take a breath, think for a sec!"

"My friends are dead! Now there is nothing! Nothing but the colony! Brothers! Seize these apparitions!"

"Hey hothead," Ben said flatly. "You wouldn't happen to know how to turn those flames of yours on would you?"

"Not really."

"Fabulous. I hope you can learn as fast as you can run your mouth then, because it looks like the Doc's gonna break his Hippocratic Oath across our heads."

"Uhh, don't think he's that kind of doctor."

"For the underground!" Elder cried, and the molds barreled towards the two.

Ben groaned and uprooted a nearby tree.

"They're comin' this way, why don't you ask 'em yourself?"

* * *

Tamara and her host now stood in a pure white space. Where she had _thought_ the darkness before was endless, this time she could truly _feel_ the vast emptiness beyond.

Tamara had initially thought the voice was male, but now she realized that she was thinking much too small. This being was something far beyond even the aliens that had contacted Earth in the past.

Their body retreated imperceptibly into a cloak with a high-steepled collar. Standing still as they were one could scarcely tell which part of the infinite starscape was their body and which was the garment. A twisting headdress spanned outwards from either side of the collar, and an unseen light source caught the left side of a blanched white face. There were no eyes or other features beyond the unflinching mask, and it regarded Tamara expectantly.

"You're… Eternity," she said, finally.

_**I Am**_

_**And I Need Your Help**_

_**Traveler From Earth**_

"Me? Help you? Aren't you basically God?"

_**I Am No Creator**_

_**I Am**_

_**I Think**_

_**A Creation**_

_**A Vast System Of Everything Ever Created**_

_**I Do Not Interact With Beings In The System**_

_**Not Often**_

_**But Events Have Transpired**_

_**I Must Break My Silence**_

"What do you mean? What events?"

_**Allow Me To Tell You A Story**_

_**A Fleeting Moment**_

_**In The History Of All Things**_

A starburst lit up where their left eye ought to have been, and Tamara saw a series of images flash across their cosmic shroud...

* * *

The next morning, Sue and Reed awoke and started making plans for the day. In the back of their minds the ticking clock of the _Beautiful Tomorrow _was biting at them.

"Reed," Sue said nervously. "Do you recall being pushed off the Gardener's hilltop just before we all escaped?"

"Why… yes." Reed remembered a bright flash knocking him away around the time he lost consciousness.

"That was me."

"You?"

"I don't fully understand it yet," Sue said. "But when I reached for you, it was like this wave of force emanated from me."

A dull crash shook the forest far ahead, and a number of flying creatures fled the trees in the are. Reed and Sue looked at each other.

"Could be the others. We should run."

* * *

_**As I Said**_

_**I Do Not Interact With Beings In The System**_

_**The System Is Composed Of Infinite Parts**_

_**For One Such As I To Focus On One Part**_

_**Would Drastically Alter The Equilibrium**_

_**Even This Conversation Will Have Ripples**_

_**Ripples In The Fabric Of Destiny**_

_**But Sometimes I Take Notice**_

_**Of Beings**_

_**Of Threats**_

_**Such A Being Surfaced Recently**_

_**One Who Coveted The Old Power**_

_**Who Sought To End Half Of All Life**_

"Thanos…"

_**Yes**_

_**The Mad Titan**_

"Yeah… I was one of the people he blipped out of existence," Tamra mused. Couldn't you stop him? Wait, no, ripples in destiny. I get it."

**Indeed**

"Wow. So it's like a Butterfly Effect. You can't kill Hitler as a baby, because it would mess up too much of established reality."

**I Beheld His Being**

Eternity did not signal that they understood her analogy.

**I Saw The Paths Before Him**

_**Knew What Lengths He Would Travel**_

_**But I Dared Not Interfere**_

_**I Could Only Prepare**_

_**In All The Infinite Possibilities**_

_**Ultimately**_

_**He Would Succeed**_

_**Tamara bowed her head. She knew all too well what happened next. The cost had been… high.**_

_**"So you did do something then, to prepare?"**_

_**Yes**_

_**I Created A Program**_

_**I Awakened The Guardian Machines Of Old**_

_**I Gave Them A New Directive**_

_**Life Must Flourish As It Once Did**_

_**The Guardians Carried The Gardeners**_

_**The Gardeners Created Gardens**_

_**The Gardens Created Life**_

_**As Was The Origin Of Many Peoples In The System**_

_**So Would Be The System's Salvation**_

_**I Created This Program**_

_**Then The Mad Titan Achieved His Goal**_

_**And I Began To Slip Away**_

"You… were dying?"

_**Yes**_

_**All Life Exists Within My Being**_

_**Without Life I Am Nothing**_

_**Empty**_

_**But Then Something Happened**_

_**The System Repaired Itself**_

_**Another From Your Earth**_

_**A Captain**_

_**Among Many Lives Saved**_

_**He Preserved Mine**_

_**I Had Not Expected This Outcome**_

_**The Program Was Not Prepared For It**_

_**The Gardeners Still Follow Their Directive**_

_**Their Mission Repair The Broken System**_

_**Now Threatens Those In the Repaired System**_

"And you can't stop them?"

_**Not Directly**_

_**I Have Already Created An Imbalance**_

_**By Creating The Program**_

_**But My Will Can Be Manifest Indirectly**_

_**Through An Interface**_

_**For This Purpose**_

_**I Have Selected You**_

Their words hit Tamara like a wall.

* * *

After a while of slogging through the jungle, Reed and Sue found the site of Ben and Johnny's battle. A ball of fire announced their arrival.

"Johnny!" Sue shouted, drawing his attention. He blasted an arc of fire in front of him to keep the giant moles at bay.

"Sue! Thank goodness you're alright. I'd hug you, but my arm is on fire and I haven't figured out the off switch!"

"I'm here too, case anyone cares," Ben said, swinging his tree.

"Ben!" Sue was ecstatic to see her friend.

"My god, what happened to you?" Reed exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's goin' around," Ben muttered.

"Reed, don't be rude. I'm just glad you're okay!"

"It's alright, I'll have time to be upset about it after I'm not gettin' attacked by moles. My piano career might be over, but this hunka rock still lets me dole out a good old fashioned ass-kicking."

A mole jumped on his back, and he grabbed and sent it flying.

"We need to help them, Sue!"

She looked at her husband with bewilderment. "What am I supposed to do? _Invisible_ at them?"

"What about the other thing you can do? That pushing force?"

"I don't know how I did it!"

"Well we have to do something!"

The ground suddenly opened up beneath Reed as Elder grabbed at his former captain.

"More foes! The kingdom must be protected!"

"Is that?"

"Harvey? Yeah," Johnny sighed. "I don't know either."

Reed hadn't been in a fight since the night he met Ben, but in this situation he didn't have much of a choice. He did, however, have an idea. Reed began stretching his arms and flailing at the doctor with clenched fists. Harvey was caked with mud and his eyes were bleary, as if he had been sitting too close to a television for several hours. His fingers had grown together and the nails now formed long, thick shovel-like protrusions.

Sue stood off to the side, invisible and trying her best to conjure the strange pushing force. Try as she might, though, it didn't manifest.

Harvey could he heard chattering go himself as the battle unfolded. His tone suddenly changed as the largest tremor yet shook the clearing.

"Your Ladyship! Thank you for this glory! You have appeared as in our dreams to lay waste to our enemies!"

A much larger member of the mole species bored out of the ground and gave a low hiss as it flexed its claws.

"Johnny, look out!" Sue phased back into visibility long enough to get his attention.

Her brother was now fully engulfed in flame again. The alpha mole extended violet glowing tendrils from the end of its nose and lumbering towards him.

Johnny put his arms out in front of him and blasted out jets of fire. The force propelled him backwards, but he was expecting a harsh landing. It never came; the ground was still sailing by underneath his flaming legs!

Reed's eyes widened. "Johnny you're… flying?"

The younger man flipped so that his stomach pointed towards the ground and did a wide loop through the air. A trail of flame lit up behind him in an arc.

"Haha! Yeah! I can fl-!"

Johnny then swerved into a tree, setting it ablaze and sending sparks flying across the clearing.

The moles likely couldn't see very well, if they were anything like Earth's animals. But Sue supposed they were sensitive to the heat, because they all reeled away from the direction of the flames, and began burrowing back underground.

Harvey spun around trying to reign his soldiers back in.

"No! Return, my brethren! The foes must be repelled!"

Ben gave him a firm but restrained bop on the head and the squalid man fell unconscious.

"Take a nice long nap, Harv," the large man said.

The alpha mole, for her part, became enraged by the fire and began bearing down on the now-extinguished Johnny.

"Get away from him!" Sue shouted, throwing out her hands. A transparent sphere of energy emerged from her palms and rushed towards the she-mole, pushing it through the trees and out of site, barreling like a runaway train.

The exertion took its toll on Sue, and the woman collapsed in a heap to the ground.

"Holy cow, Susie," Ben shouted, running to her side. She was conscious but exhausted. "Johnny's supposed to be the showoff around here."

"At least everyone is safe now," Sue placed her hand on Ben's arm as he helped her up.

Johnny looked around. "Not quite everyone though, eh? We're short one."

Reed frowned. "I was hoping Farida might be with you as well."

Johnny crinkled his brow. "If she's not with you, or us, where is she?"

"She's safe," a voice came from above. Abyss floated down from the scorched trees. Behind her a large platoon of Caretakers were anxiously carting gelatinous pods of water towards the blaze.

"I see you're already getting the hang of your gifts," she said cheerily, wiping a bit of soot from her outfit.

"Gifts?" Ben's voice grew darker. "Lady, you're lucky you didn't give me wings, I'd be up there to thank you personally."

"We don't exactly appreciate you using us as lab rats," Johnny added.

Abyss looked shocked. "Rats? My brother wishes to usher in a golden age of evolution on your planet. Why wouldn't you wish for such a thing?"

"Evolution on Earth is measured, it can take generations to become apparent," Reed stated. "This is random, chaotic. The human form can't cope with it."

"I might have agreed with you yesterday," Abyss said with a sly grin. "But there's a lot about human genetics I didn't know - a lot I imagine you don't know either. You're really a lot more fascinating than I would have given you credit for."

She gestured at Sue. "Look at your mate, for example. Just yesterday she learned to turn every cell in her body permeable to visible light. Now she sees that she can produce spheres of psionic force. All of you have the potential to be truly fantastic if you only open your minds to it."

"You know it won't be that simple," Reed said pleadingly.

Abyss now dropped to meet Reed at eye level.

"You do not want to follow this path further," she said, softly but gravely. "I may wish to see you get home safely, but… other parties will not hesitate to see you destroyed if you interfere with the Program. For your own sake, please go on in peace."

She addressed the rest of the explorers.

"I wish you safe travels, I must return to our laboratory."

And then she turned to smoke and vanished once more.

"Fantastic… Sue mused as she looked at her hand. She closed her eyes and small force sphere appeared in her palms.

Johnny leered at his sister as she sent a few small glowing bubbles floating in the air.

"How come she gets two?"

"Two what?" Sue asked wearily. She knew Johnny's tone.

"Two superpowers, duh!"

"They aren't superpowers, Johnny. Besides, spontaneous combustion and flight don't count as two? Since when?"

"Don't stoop to his level, Susie," Ben had scooped Doctor Elder onto his shoulder. "I got Harv here. Where to next, Reed?"

Reed had his neck stretched up through the canopy of the trees. "Next, we head north. I see a smoke trail that way. That must be the others."

* * *

"You want to act through me?"

Eternity shook their head slowly.

_**I Wish To Connect You To The Universe**_

_**To Allow You To See The System**_

_**And Then Your Actions**_

_**Will Carry My Words**_

_**You Would Not Be A Puppet**_

_**But An Envoy**_

"But why me? I'm… nobody."

_**Your Proximity To The Garden**_

_**Is Favorable For The Task At Hand**_

_**Your Physical State**_

_**Made Communicating With You Easier**_

_**But Also**_

_**Earth Has Drawn My Interest**_

_**It Is Now In Peril**_

_**The Captain Can No Longer Protect It**_

_**I Owe The Captain A Small Kindness**_

_**I Wish To Find Another**_

_**A New Captain**_

"But Steve Rogers was a hero, he was courageous and strong and he never gave up. I can't seem to keep hold of anything for long, except my cooking. I don't even know why I'm saying all this stuff. I never share it with anyone."

_**You Closed Yourself Off**_

_**Locked Your Pain Within**_

_**But This Place IS Within**_

"I figured if my life was going to be so miserable, I might as well not drag everyone around me down with me."

_**This I Think**_

_**Is Why We Were Drawn Together**_

_**There Is Much Suffering In This Universe**_

_**Too Much For Any One Being To Consume**_

_**One Would Tear Themselves Apart**_

_**To Comprehend It All**_

"And I've had more than my share," Tamara looked down. Her voice had a new sense of determination to it.

"I'm dying out there, from the crash, aren't I?"

_**Yes**_

"Then I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

_**It Has Already Begun . . . .**_

* * *

Tamara opened her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"Doctor Cho! Doctor Cho, come take a look!"

Helen ran out of their makeshift dwelling.

"Mr. and Mrs. Richards! Everyone! Thank goodness you're alright!"

She looked at Ben.

"Oh," she said, startled.

"Hrng," Ben grumbled back.

"I'm glad to see you as well, Doctor," Reed nodded. "What's the situation on your end?"

"Three injured, two in critical condition. But one of them, Provisions Officer Devoux, is missing. She was stable but comatose, and neither of us can determine how she got out. And Emil Frank hasn't been seen since he went out with Mark."

"Where is Doctor Cadmon? I heard Harold on our approach."

Helen sighed. "It's better if I show you."

* * *

"He quarantined himself immediately once he made it back to camp. Says he was infected by some sort of pollen. I knew it was a bad idea to go poking around, but Emil was going stir-crazy. So Mark accompanied him."

The doctor was standing in a clear plastic tent that had been set up in a hurry on the edge of the crash site. He had been looking steadily downward, but now regarded the visitors warmly.

"Ah, thank goodness! You're all alive! A little worse for wear, perhaps, but alive!"

"Likewise, Doctor Cadmon," Reed nodded. "But I couldn't help but notice your… predicament, here?"

"Oh, yes," Cadmon rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I was pursuing Doctor Frank through the jungle after we got separated. I wasn't able to find him before I became mired in a thicker of alien flowers."

He explained the situation with the giant vine and the pollen.

"Somehow I knew that the pollen had… affected me, in someway. So when I found my way back to camp I waved everyone away and put myself in here for their safety."

Cadmon showed them his forearms, which were now dotted with tiny golden pores.

"And when this happened, did you _hear_ anything notable?"

"Hm. Well, I was rather preoccupied. I suppose I may have heard a sharp whistling sound. Like the wheeze of someone with a respiratory infection."

Reed's face flashed with understanding. He relaxed a bit.

"Good," he said. "You can come out. I'm certain you're not dangerous. We've all been exposed to the same compound, with the exception of Doctor Cho and Mr. Garrison. You may keep your distance from them if you wish, but we've encountered a sizeable body of evidence that we aren't 'contagious.'"

"Oh. Thank goodness," Cadmon replied. He always tried to be the smiling face in times of adversity, but he had been quite scared this whole time. The assurance from Reed returned some of his confidence.

After everyone had gotten the basic outline of what was happening, Reed sent Ben and Johnny to salvage the spare crew uniforms from the debris of the ship. He and Sue journeyed to the back of the ship to inspect the engines. Harvey was deposited - still out cold - into the quarantine tent. They made sure to bind his hands and feet.

"Most of the cells are ruptured," Reed observed. "But there should be enough."

Once the four had reconvened with the results of their searches, Reed started applying the unstable molecules from the fuel cells onto the suits.

"Reed, clearly I need new threads by now," Johnny pulled at the blackened ribbons of material attempting to keep his modesty.

"But even if I wasn't a walking lighter, I'd have a bit of an issue with dousing my clothes in experimental rocket fuel."

"Unstable Molecules don't power the ship through combustion. It's… well it's not important right now. What is important is, it will protect the suits from our powers."

He demonstrated this by extending his arm, cloth stretching with it as it had the previous day. Sue nodded at her brother and flashed invisible for a few seconds as well.

Johnny sighed.

"Okay. What else could go wrong today?"

* * *

Fortunately for Johnny, the fitting went without issue. There was some speculation as to what effect Ben would have on the Unstable Molecules in his suit, but the biggest obstacle was figuring out how to fit him inside of one. Eventually he just opted for the pants, as his lower half was somewhat more properly-proportioned compared to his upper.

Helen and Harold, meanwhile, were busy working on the communications module they salvaged from the shuttle. Harold was pretty sure that if they used some electronics from the rest of the panels they could get it operational. He really would have wanted to combine what was left of this one with what was left of the Richards' shuttle, but with those Alien scientists running around it was too dangerous.

By the time all this work was finished, the sun was going down once again. Harvey has woken up and begun raving about the 'tyranny of the surface,' requiring Doctor Cadmon to sedate him. The Foundation had discovered over the course of the afternoon that his arms generated a sort of pheromone that, at the very least, seemed to reduce their stress levels. Ironically, it made Mark a little uncomfortable. But he appreciated being of some use.

A lone Caretaker was watching the smoke from their fire through large, glossy eyes. For some reason, the number of nonindigenous lifeforms had dropped from three to two. They had already accounted for the strange man who wandered into the pollen grove. But as far as they knew, all other members of the outside party were at that camp...

Deep within the forest, Tamara was far beyond the need for sleep. And there was still so much to do, anyway. She had learned the name of every tree she passed, and was acquanting herself with every creature running through the understory. Every step she took brought her a little bit further from the Foundation's camp. Literally and… conceptually.

* * *

"Let's add up what we know," Reed announced. The seven of them were sitting around the fire, divvying out the remainder of their rations.

"We've crash-landed on an alien planet," Harold began. "We have no means of returning to our ship and - currently - no means of letting the know we're even alive down here."

"The locals aren't very friendly," Ben continued.

Reed nodded.

"Half of our number have been exposed to a mutagen of unknown composition. Three of our number are unaccounted for, and of the ones that are accounted for, two are in great need of medical help."

"And I hate to add any _more_ urgency," Helen shifted her feet. "But Sean is unlikely to survive the next 48 hours if we can't get him more comprehensive care on the ship."

"Plus the crew's protocol is to leave after 72 hours, which is tomorrow at the end of the day," Johnny added.

"And we're out of food," Ben sighed at his last bite of freeze-dried mashed potato.

"And perhaps most distressing of all," Reed directed their attention back to him, "is that I believe they're going to introduce the same mutagen to Earth, turning the entire planet into a place like this region of Mars. And there seems to be little recourse for it."

They were all silent for some time.

"Fight back," Helen said after a while. "You guys aren't exactly the Avengers, but you have superpowers now, and that has to count for something."

"Hell yeah!" Johnny stood up. Of the many prodding questions Helen had been asked about being the Avengers' attending physician, a plurality had come from the younger Storm.

"We've been on the defensive since we landed on Mars. But now we can take the fight to them."

"It would be quite the comeuppance, wouldn't it?" Sue thought aloud. "Stopping them with the abilities they gave us? I don't like the idea of violence, but what they've done can't go unanswered. We still don't know if all our people are still alive."

Ben stoked the fire with a glum look.

"Are you sure we can do that? Last time we went up against those guys we got totally clobbered out there."

Reed put his hand on Ben's shoulder.

"What if I told you that I have a plan to, ahem, 'clobber' them back?"

"Then I'd say point me in their direction and give me the signal."

"What is this plan, Reed?" Sue asked.

"The vine Doctor Cadmon observed in the jungle today. I'm certain it connects all the way back to the giant plant the Gardeners plan on mutating Earth with. This root, it stands to reason, would function the same as any normal plant's root; transferring food, _energy_."

Sue now understood.

"If we can disable one, we can deprive the whole mechanism of the power it needs."

"Your smokey gal pal will have something to say about that. How do you know she isn't listening right now?"

Sue closed her eyes and concentrated. A shimmering bubble encased the party and their fire.

"I'm really getting the hang of this," she mused.

"We'll have to split up," Reed said. "One team will disable the vine, and meet up with whomever comes to defend it. It would be unrealistic to assume they'd leave it unguarded. Abyss has been the most mobile of the three so far."

Sue volunteered for this.

"Abyss has taken a liking to me, I may be able to use that to our advantage."

"Very well. The other team will have to distract the other two Gardeners from reinforcing her."

"I think I should go with Susie," Ben stated. "It'll take muscle to snap that twig, and I don't seem good for much more than that anymore."

"I agree," Reed said. "I was hoping to go back to the crater to coordinate the diversion. Johnny, would you accompany me?"

"Thought you'd never ask. I can put more distance between them and me than Ben or Sue could."

"Okay, then it's settled. Helen, Mark, and Harold will finish the radio and buy us time. Sue and Ben will destroy the root. Johnny and I will assault their lab.

"We also need to do all of this before our 72 hour extraction window expires," Sue reminded them.

"If we don't stop the Gardeners there won't be a day after tomorrow anyway," Johnny said. "So no pressure, right?"

* * *

"The germination is beginning," Ex Nihilo said with an uncharacteristically stern face. Below them in the bowl of the great crater the whispering bulb pulsed with light. He could hear the cracking of soil as the great roots extended ever outwards.

"Our… friends… still seem apprehensive about the matter," Abyss winced. "I had hoped for a little more progress. They may yet prove an issue."

"The program must be undisturbed," Aleph said. Though his face remained static, she could feel the renewed intensity of his gaze.

"We all know our roles, machine," Abyss said with a chill. "I gave them a chance, we will see tomorrow if they take it. If not, I will… do what is necessary."

The sun set on Mars, the last light of the day creating over the top of the giant bulb, and the power slumbering within.


	8. Chapter 8

THUM

Reed awoke with a start as a quick, low frequency pulsed through the ground.

THUM

"Wake up everyone," he called out. But the second pulse had already done the job.

THUM … THUM

"It's coming from underground," Ben observed. It felt like the bass in someone's speakers was turned up far too high.

THUM - THUM - THUM

"It's starting," Sue breathed. "Listen - The intervals are getting shorter."

As the pulsing continued, the bioluminescence in the plants around them began to join in the rhythm. The flashing flora forming a circular pattern radiating inwards towards the crater at the heart of the forest.

THUM - THUM - THUM - THUM

"They're building up to… Reed? Johnny turned nervously to his brother in law.

"Are we too late?"

THUM THUM THUM THUM THUM

"I don't know."

THMTHMTHMTHMTHMTHMTHMTHMTHM

**FWOOoOOOM**

At the last pulse a persistent tremor shook the Martian Forest. The Future Foundation could hear loud buckling sounds that none of them could have known were the strains of plants growing at many hundreds of times their normal rate. Any animals capable of flight were fleeing skyward as thick cords of root matter swelled out of the ground. Trees were uprooted as the ground was displaced. Below, Harvey Elder's mole kingdom was in disarray as whole segments began to collapse.

In the crater below the Gardeners' studio, the bulb stirred. With the force of a launching rocket, the alien plant stretched upwards, a tall stalk thrusting the giant pod into the air. The glow of the great roots feeding it across the planet, the flash of the trees and bushes, the luminous bulb at the crown of the bioorganic spire, all beating in harmony.

* * *

Above the planet in the _Beautiful Tomorrow,_ the Bridge Crew looked on in terror at the light show occuring in the surface.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

The First Mate wished he hadn't volunteered for this job. He couldn't handle the pressure of having twelve lives in his hands.

"Prepare for return coordinates, he said sadly. "But don't take us out of stable orbiting distance. We're explorers. We need to see what's about to happen."

* * *

When the shaking and pulsing had died down, the Foundation looked at each other. Reed closed his eyes and nodded.

"It's stopped. That was just a foreshock. That thing is getting ready to launch its payload. Like a silo for an evolutionary missile."

"Then we have to move, _now,"_ Sue said urgently. "We don't have much more time."

Reed turned to Helen.

"Get the radio working. The four of us will handle the rest."

* * *

"Ex Nihilo!"

"They've returned? Oh Aleph, How exciting!" The golden alien cooed.

Aleph did not move to acknowledge he had heard the other Gardener. He stood off to the side of the laboratory, busily interfaced with the consoles governing the pod's development.

"Look over there, Reed," Johnny murmured.

Reed followed the direction he pointed his head. Emil was hanging from one of the pod stations that Reed and company had found themselves in two days ago. He was limp. There was, otherwise, no sign of Farida.

"Ah yes, I plan on working on him later this afternoon," Nihilo shrugged. "Destiny has called our attention elsewhere, presently. You're welcome to observe-"

"That won't be happening," Reed interrupted.

"Let him go, and tell us where Doctor Hussein is." Johnny held up a hand and lit it aflame.

Aleph at last stirred, turning to look at the humans. Ex Nihilo regarded them blankly. He was momentarily unable to process what was happening.

"That's the last time we ask nicely."

Then that moment passed, and his skin flashed obsidian.

"You dare violence?!" A bolt of plasma surged from his third eye. Johnny and Reed dove out of the way.

"Violence for violence's sake! I have remade you - better than you were! I would do the same to your whole world."

"Yup we figured that part out, shiny! And this is how we're saying 'thanks!'" Johnny shouted, rocketing towards the golden giant. The two careened over the side of the crater into the deeper workings of the weapon.

With a silent wave of his arm, Aleph dispatched a number of Caretakers after Reed.

Reed stretched his arms, keeping the odd beings at bay. They were numerous but clearly not built for combat. For his part, Reed was rapidly learning new things about the "gift" the Gardeners had bestowed on him. He found he could wind his arms around the attackers, turning them around, disorienting them, even whipping them off their feet.

He was doing quite well for himself too, until he felt a sharp blow to his back. Aleph had abandoned the control console and was now pinning him to the ground.

* * *

All that remained of the flowers was a bed of petals now turning brown on the forest floor. Two orange feet now tromped across them on his way to the massive root that grew in their midst.

"You're a long way from Yancy Street now, Ben," the pilot muttered to himself as he came upon the flashing cord of plant matter. Small pulses of light once again ran through the entire forest, following the Root's pattern. Ben had a feeling the next crescendo they built to would be the big one.

"Alright. Here we go. God, what have you gotten yourself into, ya big lug?"

"Something wonderful, Benjamin Grimm."

Ben turned and saw Abyss once more drop down from above the trees.

"That's what I've been trying so hard to get you and your family to understand."

"You're the one who I think is having the understanding issue, lady."

"I'm… sorry?"

"Susie told me that you were sort of a mediator between the robot and your brother," Ben sat down to continue the conversation.

"Life and Death, Good and Bad. You help them decide, right? Well shouldn't you know by now that nothing's all good or all bad? Maybe my friends wind up aces with their new powers. That's good for them. But they wanted nice, simple lives, same as anyone. And now that's off the table. Bad. And then there's me."

"You regret the effects the Gift has had on your physical appearance."

"I wasn't exactly on the cover of People last week," Ben chuckled joylessly. "But back home a mug like mine doesn't get a lot of play. People have been shut out for the way they look since forever, and for looking way more normal than me at that."

Abyss looked down. "But… if nothing is 'all bad,' surely there must be something you can do to see the bright side of your situation."

"Bah," Ben froze. "Walked right into that one."

* * *

Aleph rolled Reed on his back to face him.

"Yield."

He punched the scientist in the head without waiting for a response. It was a demand, not a question.

"I can't, Aleph."

He punched him again, and again, each time repeating his missive.

"Yield."

"No!"

"Yield."

"No."

"Yield."

"Aleph!"

"Yield."

"N-n…"

Finally Aleph was satisfied with Reed's discipline and raised the limp man over his head with both arms. Shooting him one final unmoving glare, he brought Reed down across his knee.

But Aleph did not hear the customary snap of an invertebrate's spine. In fact, Reed's body had merely bent softly across his leg, his waist and chest now distended on opposite sides of the machine. In the last 48 hours Reed had done a lot with his superhumanly flexible arms and neck. But - foolishly, he supposed - he hadn't thought about what it meant for his _entire skeleton_. When he returned to his lab on Earth - not a certainty at this point - he'd have to do a lot more investigating.

His ponderings were cut short by Aleph throwing him down to pick up where he had left off. Johnny and Ex Nihilo had emerged from the crater at this point, and Ex Nihilo had begun to guess what they were doing.

"Aleph! Get back to the console and continue the launch sequence! They mean to disturb the Program!"

"Irrelevant. Auto-charging process initiated. This Aleph unit has detected a potential threat to the system. Correcting."

Johnny blasted Aleph with fire to stall his attack on Reed. Aleph responded in kind with a beam of his own energy.

"Johnny!" Reed shouted. His voice was raspy. Apparently even if his body could withstand a new amount of force, it didn't take it very _well_. "Step it up, we haven't much time!"

He sent a jet of flame hurling into the sky.

"I hope they see that," Johnny yelled as he narrowly avoided another of Aleph's blasts.

* * *

Ben did, in fact see Johnny's flame from where he and Sue were confronting Abyss.

He yawned and rotated his shoulder. "Yup, that'd be the signal."

Abyss squinted.

"The signal… for what?"

Behind her Sue phased into view, erecting a force bubble around Abyss.

"Clobberin' time," Ben muttered as he clenched his fist. He delivered a sharp hook to the giant root. It left a visible impact mark.

"No!" Abyss shouted and surged into her gaseous form, knocking against the walls of the bubble.

"She's fighting Ben," Sue scowled in concentration. "Make it quick!"

"Got more than enough motivation, Susie," Ben swung again and the the bright scar grew. Phosphorescent white goo sprayed from the gash. Ben could feel more rocks start to form where the droplets hit his exposed knuckles.

With a blast of energy Abyss cut through her prison and surged towards Ben. Sue began throwing force fields as fast as she could manage but it only slowed the ephemeral woman briefly. Eventually she put up a large sphere around Ben himself and focused on strengthening it from his attacker.

"You won't hurt him Abyss!" Sue called out.

"This won't keep me out," Abyss glowered. "Stop this foolish crusade if you care about him that much!"

"Finish it Susie!" Ben hollered from within the hold. "Don't think about me, think about all the people on Earth!"

Sue looked at her friend, then at the root. Dropping the field between Ben and Abyss, she created a new bubble inside the gash Ben opened up. With all the strength she had, she expanded the bubble, ripping open the gash and exploding the section of root. At once the pulsing light inside the vines halted, and the massive growth went dark.

Abyss slammed Ben into the ground, then looked desperately at the ruined vines.

Sue stepped forward. The pools of fluid around the vine were already rapidly surging with mushrooms and small reptiles.

"Abyss, you must stop this!"

She gestured to the wild mutation. "You say you want to repair a system, but Earth's system can't handle this much change that fast!"

"The program must be undisturbed! I'll restore the connection even if I have to kill you!"

Abyss grimaced and entered an offensive stance. Ben balled his Rocky fists and Sue prepared to summon a field. They were set to begin a fight none of them really wanted, but then they heard the Voice.

_**Stop**_

And they did.

Tamara Devoux knelt to pick up one of the reptilian creatures as it crawled over to where she had entered the clearing.

"The directive has changed."


	9. Chapter 9

The situation was rapidly deteriorating on the Gardeners' plateau. Johnny's flames were powerful, but he had only had them for two days, and Aleph was old when the universe was young. Reed was now trying to hold his own against Ex Nihilo. Violence upset the lifebringer, but once he was provoked into it violence was clearly not foreign to him.

"The preparation of the Seed has stalled. I know it was your mate that was responsible. When the connection is reestablished, and it will be once my sister has dealt with your friends, I have no choice but to give you over to Aleph. I have tried, _so_ hard, to nurture your fragile species, to give you a chance to grow into your gifts. But you flee, you reject, and you attack. Why must you force us all to act against our natures? What do you hope to accomplish?"

"We need to settle this here, for the rest of the people on Earth," Reed wheezed.

"Settle it here? We'll settle it then, and let the Universe sort us all out!"

Ex Nihilo's third eye opened and began to glow.

"Wait."

Nihilo stopped as he caught sight of Abyss coming up the stairs with Ben and Sue. The gold hue returned to his form.

"Abyss?"

"Brother, it's over."

"What do you mean over? The program-"

_**The Program Is Broken**_

_**A Flaw Has Been Detected**_

Ex Nihilo began to tremble as he heard the voice. Everyone looked up to see Tamara floating overhead. Her whole upper body was wreathed in an infinite black laced with hundreds of stars. Eyes glowing with palpably ancient light now pierced down at the golden gardener.

"My stars…" he fell to his knees. "Great divine Universe!"

_**My Children**_

_**You Are Misguided**_

_**The System No Longer Requires Repair**_

_**While The Universe Slumbered**_

_**While Your Gardens Grew**_

_**The Great Wrong Has Been Righted**_

"But how could this have happened? What beings could have done what so many Gardeners have striven for?"

_**One Being**_

_**One Who Possessed No Cosmic Power**_

_**Very Little Power Of Their Own**_

_**Save Their Faith In Their Team**_

_**And Their Desire To Do Good**_

_**One Whose Role I Now Seek To Emulate**_

_**A Human**_

Their mask receded from their head, revealing Tamara's face.

"A Captain."

A year streaked down Ex Nihilo's face. His sister went to him.

"What shall we do, brother?"

He looked up at her.

"It's always the Abyss' call in times such as these. Will we have Equilibrium?"

"The Universe has spoken," she said. "Our great work is done."

The Richards family relaxed a bit.

"I'm glad that's settled," Johnny smiled. "Can we go home now?"

"False."

Everyone turned to see Aleph standing on top of the root that Ben and Sue had disabled further down. His body was stretched wide, with glowing red orbs of plasma visible within his shell.

Sue remembered Abyss's self appraisal from two days ago. She was the mediator between Ex Nihilo and Aleph. One who created, and one who destroyed...

"Declarative: If Earth's system is intact, then it can be razed. Raze planet. Complete Program. Complete Directive. Resume prior function."

"That is not the Directive, Guardian," Tamara said sternly.

"Current Directive is incompatible with this Aleph Unit's function. I cannot act outside my function."

"We don't have a choice," Abyss called to the machine. "Our way is to follow the will of the Universe."

"You are correct," Aleph said finally. "I do not have a choice."

Energy coursed from Aleph's body through the root and into the great bulb. As if flipping a switch the whole process resumed, with the other three vines siphoning their energy into the plant as well. Then finally - as the earthlings watched on in horror - the plant swelled and belched forth a huge oblong shape, radiant with white light.

* * *

"Is that… a missile?"

Someone on the bridge of the Future Foundation's ship put words to everyone else's thoughts.

"Prepare to activate the drives," the Mate called out, his voice wavering. But then the radio began to crackle.

_"G ou d eam to Br d , Grou Tea o Bridg "_

"You've got to be kidding me… boost that frequency!"

"Ground Team to Bridge, do you read me? This is Helen Cho."

The bridge erupted in applause and relieved exhales.

"We hear you, Doctor; glad to hear you, as a matter of fact."

_"Good. Don't leave Martian space yet. Doctor Richards and his family are handling the situation down here. I think."_

* * *

"The Seed of Evolution," Ex Nihilo breathed. "It has begun."

Sue clutched her husband's hand.

"Oh God, Reed, is there anything we can do?"

Reed's brain was ablaze with thought.

"It's impossible. For us. But nothing's impossible for you, is it?"

The four humans looked at the being floating inches off the ground before them. Tamara - or whatever she was now. The figure turned their starry eyes to Reed and nodded. Then they flew up above the plateau.

Captain Universe faced the Seed. They raised their hand, and with a blinding wink of light the Seed dropped out of its trajectory and began spiraling towards the Martian surface. The seven figures standing on the plateau watched as a neon blue mushroom cloud enveloped the entire horizon far beyond the jungle.

"So it is done," Ex Nihilo said. He cradled the shattered head casing of the former Aleph unit in his arms.

Captain Universe put their hand on his shoulder.

"Do you not still stand? Does your Garden? It is not over while you still have a system to watch over."

"Chosen of Eternity," Ex Nihilo was confused. "The Gardeners seeded life where there was none. That was eons ago. Our function is no longer needed in the Universe."

"You told your Aleph that you had no choice but to follow the Universe's will. The Universe's will is that you now _have_ a choice."

"Then… we can do anything?"

"And go anywhere. The Red Planet is your domain to populate. Or perhaps you would like to see the fruits of your ancestors' labors elsewhere in the stars? There are other Gardeners awakening even now, who have not yet received the word of Eternity."

"What say you, brother?" Abyss grinned. "Shall we go on holiday, see the sights?"

"I think we've earned it," Ex Nihilo returned her smile. "The Seed created a whole new Garden far from here. Perhaps we should start there."

"I'm glad we're all getting our happy endings," Johnny interrupted the siblings, "But some of our people are still unaccounted for."

"Oh! My friends, I must apologize," Ex Nihilo stood up and made some gestures to the Caretakers now regaining consciousness around him. They hurried over to Emil and helped the old man down from his predicament.

"Your other companion, the female, I'm afraid she's a stranger case. Covered herself in this… organic matter. Alive, but won't come out."

"She has forgotten how," Captain Universe looked hard at the cocoon. "Benjamin Grimm, if you would please apply some force. Fear not; you will not harm her."

Ben looked at them. There was something about the way they carried themself that made him believe her. He struck the cocoon with a single fist. It splintered, but did not give.

Within moments, a hand adorned with strange markings halfway up the forearms emerged.

"Farida!" Sue exclaimed. "Johnny, help me sit her up!"

"I... I was dreaming," she said. "Or I woke up? What happened? Are we still on Mars, or was that a dream?"

"If you were dreaming, I'm sorry this ugly mug is the first thing you saw when you woke up."

"Ben? Oh, I don't care. You're all a sight for sore eyes."

"Good to see you, Doctor Hussein," Johnny grinned. "Don't freak out, turns out the crazy mad scientist aliens are cool now. Tamara killed one."

"Oh my," she gasped. "But look at my hands. What's happened to them? Oh, I feel like I've gone mad."

"At least you can still fit on the subway," Ben grunted. "And you're already in way better shape upstairs than Harvey "

"Oh, okay. Wait, what happened to Harvey?"

"We've got a lot to catch you up on, Doc."

* * *

The time came for the Future Foundation to say their goodbyes to their strange new friends.

"They're going to be rather cross on Earth when we get back and tell them all of our known studies of Mars will have to be thrown out," Reed said to Ex Nihilo.

"They are welcome to come and do as many new studies as they like. This planet is now teeming with undiscovered life," Ex Nihilo laughed. "And this time we will try not to mutated people against their will."

"That's a pretty soft promise," Ben muttered.

Sue and Abyss met in the shade of a nearby tree.

"I wish you the best of luck. You, your husband, and your child."

Sur's eyes widened.

"What child?"

"Oh no, I hope I haven't spoiled a surprise," Abyss looked legitimately concerned.

"No, no! Well, I mean you've surprised _me_. It usually takes weeks before a human woman learns she's pregnant. There's… symptoms."

"Oh. Well, I suppose that makes sense. We have rather a few more tools than your species would. When we were scanning you the other day, I noticed some cellular clumping. Telltale signs of a baby on the way."

Sue took a breath.

"So I've been pregnant since before we landed on Mars?"

"Sue, you're a woman of science, I think you understand how the process works. You couldn't have gotten on pregnant _on_ Mars, not in the situation you were in."

"With respect, Abyss," Sue said. "You and your brother have been rather cavalier with our bodies in the last few days."

Abyss bowed her head.

"I understand. You know, I'd understand if you never wanted to see us again, but I rather liked getting to know you. I can't explain why."

"I really shouldn't either, but I think I've come to like you as well," Sue said thoughtfully. "You were responsible for changing all of us, but you did help me learn to control my powers a great deal. I'd probably still be stuck invisible in the woods if it weren't for you."

* * *

"Tamara!"

Captain Universe felt the presence of Helen Cho running up to meet them.

"The shuttle will be here soon, we need to get going."

"I will not be accompanying you," they said after a pause.

"What do you mean?"

"Tamara Devoux been chosen. The universe has a greater purpose for her than a life on Earth."

Helen blinked.

"Who are you, if you aren't Tamara?"

"I am the voice of the Universe, Champion of the Will of Eternity."

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing that she did not choose."

"I don't believe you. I saw what's under there. It's still Tamara. Maybe Tamara with something weird in her head, but if you come with us we can help you."

"These Gardeners are still children. They are now without purpose and without a Guardian. They require a guide. It would be dangerous to leave them unabated."

"What about your own child?"

Universe looked at her with luminous eyes.

"I know Tamara - _you_ \- had a daughter. I know that something happened to her during the Decimation, and that she wouldn't talk about it. I don't know anything else, but I know enough. You have a whole life back on Earth. You can't just leave it behind."

They turned their back on Helen.

"If you knew more about the life of Tamara Devoux on Earth, you would perhaps understand why she chose this one over that one."

"That's still you in there, isn't it, Tamara?" Helen realized. "This while 'voice of the universe' thing is just an act?"

"It's far from an act. I have been chosen."

And with that curt goodbye, Captain Universe flew off.

Helen Cho made a silent vow. She would find out what became of Tamara's daughter. She would bring her colleague back from whatever had gotten into her head.

* * *

"Sue, you seem distracted."

The _Beautiful Tomorrow_ was en route back from Mars. After a boisterous homecoming party, the crew had decided they had plenty of adventure and were returning to Earth with their findings. Now Sue and Reed were in a quiet part of the ship, watching the stars whiz by.

Sue snapped back inside.

"Hm? Oh! I was just thinking, about my father."

"Oh. I thought he didn't want you to associate with you, to 'tarnish your reputation' now that you've taken on all these responsibilities."

"Well, imagine if things had been different. If something like what the Gardeners were going to do to Earth. It would be a new start. He might not have made the choices he did, wound up in prison."

Reed thought for a bit.

"But aside from perhaps poor Harvey, all our minds have been unaffected. Who we are is ultimately a sum of what we are, and the decisions we make."

"What are we going to be next, now that we have these powers?

"I suppose we shouldn't let it alter the decisions we make. We're still scientists, not superheroes."

"You don't think we need to use our abilities to some sort of positive ends? That's what we're doing with our intelligence at the Foundation, isn't it?"

"Hm. I suppose. We'll have time to think about it."

They sat in silence for a while.

"Still, it's a good name, isn't it? Franklin?"

"It's a very good name. Like Benjamin Franklin. Now _he_ was a scientist."

"Oh, Reed."

* * *

_"Well folks, they're back a little earlier than expected, but Reed Richards' Future Foundation has wrapped up their journey to Mars."_

_"The Future Foundation is back, but you may notice a few differences among the high profile academic crew."_

_"The Richards family found themselves 'mutated' at the hands of alien lifeforms on Mars."_

_"Do we know if these beings are hostile? Of course we do. Earth has yet to contact any of these supposedly 'benevolent' aliens, and now the Future Foundation has come to Earth carrying God knows how many foreign diseases."_

_"Reed Richards assures the scientific community that the changes his family has sustained are neither contagious nor impairing to their work. Still, he has submitted the whole crew to routine quarantine at NASA's Cape Canaveral space center…"_

_"DAILY BUGLE EXCLUSIVE: FOUNDATION FREAKS GET CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH FROM GOVERNMENT"_

_"RICHARDS FAMILY SIGNS SOKOVIA ACCORDS."_

_"Geologist Harvey Elder has been admitted to Manhattan Psychiatric Center after continued episodes of what has been reported as post-traumatic stress disorder…"_

_"The Future Foundation has declined to comment on which other members of the crew were affected by the events on Mars…"_

_"GRIMM TELLS ALL - 'I'M NO MONSTER.'"_

_"Look, I'm not a poet or anything. But if there's nothing we can do about this stuff I'm made of, what am I supposed to do about it? I can't just flip down and die. Look on the bright side; there's some mug watching this, knows he ain't the least eligible bachelor in NYC anymore. So at least I helped that guy."_

_"RICHARDS CONTINUES TO DENY ALLEGATIONS OF "REPLACEMENT AVENGERS TEAM" IN WORKS AT FOUNDATION."_

_"MYSTERY PROJECT UNDERWAY AT FUTURE FOUNDATION HEADQUARTERS"_

_"Mr. Storm! Mr. Storm!"_

_"Is it true that the Baxter Building is going to serve as a headquarters for your super team?"_

_"What is the construction project currently going on in the penthouse?"_

_"Guys, you know I can't answer that. Reed says no super stuff. But I'm sure he'll come around eventually."_

_"One more, one more!"_

_"Yeah okay, settle down. You, in the back."_

_"What are you going to call yourselves?"_

* * *

**|Fantastic Four: The Golden Age|**

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading everyone. I fell way behind this story, and I'm not certain the ending meets the standards I try to set for myself. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I've been hard at work on the next story in the meantime, and I hope to start publishing it in September if I have enough chapters done. Thanks again!_

_Keep going for the post-credit chapter!_


	10. Chapter 10

_"It is true that we all have come back from Mars a little different than when we left. But it would be premature to say that we should all abandon our work for superheroics." _

His face was obscured by the hood of the cape that clasped around his chest.

He rang a small bell, and a smartly dressed man scurried through the door to attend to him. "Yes, my Lord?"

"Observe," a metal-gloved hand reached out to point to the television.

"The man who went to Mars, your grace? What would you require of him?"

_"My most powerful tool continues to be my mind. That's how I'm going to save the world."_

"He is... intriguing. Most intriguing. I think I know this man. Find out all you can about this Doctor… Richards…"

**The Fantastic Four Will Return**


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